Ute Insiders: Is Utah football team early favorite to win Pac-12 South title in 2019? (podcast)

Utemythology

Re: The truth is the PAC 12 South was THE worst P5 division in 2018, which explains why the Utes were able to win their first division title.

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“Just like the SEC-South was in 2017 according to Sagarin.”

LOL at your desperate attempt to change the focus of the discussion.

Since Utah didn’t win the SEC-South in 2017, how is that relevant?

SportsFan - Provo, UT
Jan. 13, 2019 9:18 a.m.
SoonerUte

“ The PAC is almost right up there with the #2 conference in the nation!”

Only in your dreams!

The truth is the PAC 12 South was THE worst P5 division in 2018, which explains why the Utes were able to win their first division title.

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Just like the SEC-South was in 2017 according to Sagarin.

This has already been deabted, USC and UCLA twice had weaker PAC-12 conference schedules.

Utah's schedule was anything but weak, a top 25 SOS.

SoonerUte

“ The PAC is almost right up there with the #2 conference in the nation!”

Only in your dreams!

The truth is the PAC 12 South was THE worst P5 division in 2018, which explains why the Utes were able to win their first division title.

No playoff for U "According to Sagarin, the PAC South was the weakest P5 division, only a little stronger than the MWC Mountain division"

You say that a difference of 6.22 is "only a little stronger".
By your logic, the SEC-East is "only a little stronger" that the PAC-South.
Wow! The PAC is almost right up there with the #2 conference in the nation!
Thanks for the perspective!!

No no a thousand times no

Or, is the same Utah team who managed to win a game after being down by 20 points, twice?

Can't remember the opponent, maybe Yale or Youngstown State, I think they had a Y on their helmet.

According to Sagarin, the PAC South was the weakest P5 division, only a little stronger than the MWC Mountain division:

1 SEC-West (A) = 83.24
2 SEC-East (A) = 79.90
3 Big Ten-East (A) = 78.52
4 PAC-12 (North) (A) = 77.77
5 BIG 12 (A) = 77.35
6 ACC-Atlantic (A) = 76.36
7 Big Ten-West (A) = 76.26
8 ACC-Coastal (A) = 74.02
9 PAC-12 (South) (A) = 73.08
10 MWC-Mountain (A) = 66.86

jskm

“No the weakest would be Independents...”

By definition, Independents aren’t in a conference, hence the name.

That said, unlike the PAC 12, an Independent did play in the CFP.

top of the world

“The Washington game will not count against their division record but it seems the team often loses games they should win.”

Washington counts just as mucn in Utah’s division record as Arizona.

Utah could beat every team in the South and still not win the division by losing to teams in the North.

“The first preseason poll for next year is out and the only team representing the PAC-12 South is USC.”

high school coog:

Which one are you talking about? Nearly every one I’ve seen (ESPN, NCAA, CBS, SBNation, SI, Wash. Post, etc) have Utah ranked. U$C isn’t even in most of them.

“after Corbin Kaufusi became so crippled by injuries that he could barely walk.”

Auntycoog:

Then why was he out there playing when Utah turned on the jets? Getting trucked during Shyne’s TD and faked by Shelly on his TD run wasn’t a good look.

@high school fan - Huntington, UT

"We in Utah like the Utes but not so much the rest of the country. The first preseason poll for next year is out and the only team representing the PAC-12 South is USC. The Utes get no respect"
= = = = =
Interesting that the ONLY news service that ranked USC (at #20) was College Football News and that was when Kliff Kingsbury was still listed as their offensive coordinator.
Sorry to burst your Y bubble but:
ESPN has Utah ranked at 18
SB Nation has Utah ranked at 16
CBS has Utah ranked at 18
Athalon has Utah ranked at 16
I guess there is respect after all.

@Down under - Salt Lake City, UT

"Pretty good chance of a repeat due to 5th he overall weakness of the pac south, probably the weakest of any conference"
= = = = =
No the weakest would be Independents - ND=5 stars, Army=4 stars and BYU= No stars. It's terrible to be the weakest "sister".

We in Utah like the Utes but not so much the rest of the country. The first preseason poll for next year is out and the only team representing the PAC-12 South is USC. The Utes get no respect.

They’re always an early favorite; it’s late in the season tha kills them.

I've given this some thought and I have come to the conclusion that if Coach Ludwig can jell the offense and the team avoids big-time injuries, they might just pull it off...a South Championship. They have seven games at home and just five travelling, with two byes to shore up injuries. The biggest challenges might be at Washington (the Husky QB is gone) and at USC. Home games against the Cougars from Pullman are always tough for the Utes, and ASU will be a test. I must return to the point of injuries to key players. If the QB's continue to get injured the team will not enjoy the level of excellence it will take to win the South. The Washington game will not count against their division record but it seems the team often loses games they should win. Given their record, I was surprised this past season that they played in the conference title game. The PAC south teams seem to beat each other up each year.

As far as the comments from the BYU-haters and the U of U haters, what a bunch of childish nonsense. Most of these comments sound like grade school trash talk.

DN, please give us updates on new signees, transfers in and out, etc as soon as they become available to you.

All of these insults coming from byu fans make me laugh. I feel nine in a row coming and it feels great!

Cyprus High could win the south as bad a the pac is.
Herbstreit said it best; "The pac is aweful" and he know college football.

Aunty Mythology - Monrovia, CA
Jan. 11, 2019 6:40 a.m.
Uteology - East Salt Lake City, Utah
Jan. 10, 2019 5:54 p.m.
Aunty Mythology - Monrovia, CA
Jan. 10, 2019 5:01 p.m.
Utemythology

“Next man up doesn't mean Utah has no holes in the 2 deep rotations, particularity on offense.”

LOL 😂

That’s EXACTLY what it means.

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No it does not. Take your time, you'll figure out what it means.

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It means having 2nd and 3rd stringers who are equally talented, with perhaps less experience.

It means not making excuses for losing because of injuries.

Bottom line, it means that Utah’s hubris in proclaiming that they don’t make excuses for losing games because of injuries is total hog wash.

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How are the Kaufusi cousins doing?

Sorry you are having such a hard time with this.

It would be better to promise little and deliver much.

everything is awesome:

"JackRyanSLC

“We used to have solid 1's in our Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl years.”

Who did Utah beat during their Fiesta Bowl season?"

Everyone.

Uteology - East Salt Lake City, Utah
Jan. 10, 2019 5:54 p.m.
Aunty Mythology - Monrovia, CA
Jan. 10, 2019 5:01 p.m.
Utemythology

“Next man up doesn't mean Utah has no holes in the 2 deep rotations, particularity on offense.”

LOL 😂

That’s EXACTLY what it means.

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No it does not. Take your time, you'll figure out what it means.

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It means having 2nd and 3rd stringers who are equally talented, with perhaps less experience.

It means not making excuses for losing because of injuries.

Bottom line, it means that Utah’s hubris in proclaiming that they don’t make excuses for losing games because of injuries is total hog wash.

Pretty good chance of a repeat due to 5th he overall weakness of the pac south, probably the weakest of any conference.

Aunty Mythology - Monrovia, CA
Jan. 10, 2019 5:01 p.m.
Utemythology

“Next man up doesn't mean Utah has no holes in the 2 deep rotations, particularity on offense.”

LOL 😂

That’s EXACTLY what it means.

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No it does not. Take your time, you'll figure out what it means.

Are you claiming Shyne is on par with Moss?

SMH

Utemythology

“Next man up doesn't mean Utah has no holes in the 2 deep rotations, particularity on offense.”

LOL 😂

That’s EXACTLY what it means.

Aunty Mythology - Monrovia, CA
Jan. 10, 2019 4:07 p.m.
Utemythology

“Didn't our backups beat your team in 16 minutes of good football?”

Nope, it took Utah 57 minutes to take their first lead in the game...

after Corbin Kaufusi became so crippled by injuries that he could barely walk.

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I stand corrected, it took Utah's backups 3 minutes of good football to beat BYU in a trap game.

Corbin Kaufusi was so crippled that even with a 300 lb Utah lineman draped all over him, he "ran" to tackle Shyne, only to be rolled over with 4 other BYU tacklers for the go-ahead touchdown. Again, Shyne has struggled and does not look like a PAC-12 RB.

Utemythology

“Didn't our backups beat your team in 16 minutes of good football?”

Nope, it took Utah 57 minutes to take their first lead in the game...

after Corbin Kaufusi became so crippled by injuries that he could barely walk.

whoami

re: “Who did Utah beat during their Fiesta Bowl season?”

Answer: Everyone we played. And we won by an average of 26 points with the closest game 14 points. And that included defeating the Y by 31 points.

Ah, NOW point spread matters, even though Utah fans have been telling us for years that point spread is completely meaningless in the head-to-head rivalry.

btw, BYU 5-6 was one of EIGHT Utah 2004 opponents that didn’t finish above .500.

byu fans since PACmas:

"Utah will never win on the road in the PAC" - wrong
"Utah will never beat a ranked PAC opponent" - wrong
"Utah will lose (not loose) to byu this year" - wrong
"Utah will never be ranked" - wrong
"Utah will never have a winning record in PAC play" - wrong
"Utah will never beat USC, Washington or Oregon" - wrong
"Utah will always be the PAC cellar dweller" - wrong
"Utah doesn't have better talent than us" - wrong
"Utah will never win their division" - wrong
"Utah will never win the PAC 12 title and go to the Rose Bowl" - LOL. With byu fans' track record, Utah winning the Rose Bowl is a virtual guarantee!

Go Utes!
Nine is coming
Sweep the Decade

Yes - Yes !!! Utah will easily win the PAC-12 South , then the PAC-12 championship game! Go to the Rose Bowl probably play for the national championship..... it will be so exciting!!!! Just like last time..... oh wait.

@Everything is awsome"

"Who did Utah beat during their Fiesta Bowl season?"

Answer: Everyone we played. And we won by an average of 26 points with the closest game 14 points. And that included defeating the Y by 31 points.

UoU 1991 - Park City, UT
Jan. 10, 2019 1:25 p.m.
utemythology

“No, that Utah didn't have Huntley, Moss, and Covey.”

so in reality, all of that Utah talk about next man up

is just a bunch of hot air.

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Didn't our backups beat your team in 16 minutes of good football?

Next man up doesn't mean Utah has no holes in the 2 deep rotations, particularity on offense.

How are the Kaufusi cousins doing?

Flipphone
That’s “lose”, not “loose”. And yes, the same team that scored 28 points in the 4th quarter to beat TDS.

Pacmidmajor
Yeah, when very few of your students leave and you have a small class, your recruiting class will rank lower. You see, 4 players with average rank of 3.5 = 14, but 16 players with an average rank of 2.5 = 40. Yep, 40 is more than 14, so “higher ranked”, but the quality of the individual players is lower 3.5>2.5. Besides, this head coach has shown he can beat teams with players who would not make the opponent’s team, like in ’09 Sugar bowl.

Everything is awesome
TA&M, AZ, USU, AF, UNM, UNC, UNLV, SDSU, CSU, UW, TDS, Pitt. 4 BCS league teams, one of which was their conference champ. Ended ranked 4 in coaches’ poll, 5 in AP.

2008 played at least 4 top 25 teams, and 2 top 10 teams.

utemythology

“No, that Utah didn't have Huntley, Moss, and Covey.”

so in reality, all of that Utah talk about next man up

is just a bunch of hot air

Is Utah the early favorite to win the Pac-12 South football title in 2019?

Yes!

Will Utah actually win a 2nd consecutive title?

Doubtful...

Flipphone - , 00
Jan. 10, 2019 9:50 a.m.
Are you Talking about the same Utah Utes who managed to loose the holiday bowl after being up 20-3 at haft time?

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No, that Utah didn't have Huntley, Moss, and Covey.

Injuries will be key, this year without Moss we had not running game, the Oregon game being the exception.

If Moss stays healthy Utah has a great chance of winning the PAC-12. Shyne has to play like he did in 2015 or another RB has to step-up.

JackRyanSLC

“We used to have solid 1's in our Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl years.”

Who did Utah beat during their Fiesta Bowl season?

ekute - “It will be nice to get BYU out of the way right off the bat so we can move forward with what really counts. They're a thorn and our domination of them is meaningless.”

LOL

Which is of course why you immediately started talking about BYU.

The truth is our BYU-obsessed little brothers are totally incapable of not talking about BYU, regardless of whether BYU plays you early, late, or not at all.

Jello is Good,
My comment is relevant to the article. I will explain if I have to.

If I was a Ute supporter, I would be excited for next year. Utah should win the PAC 12. If not they’ve lost their window.

Well said Jack! WACmidmajor is just teeming with envy over how superior our program is to theirs, so they take those "hit-&-run" shots. What else can be expected of those cowardly "uneducated" fans that mendenmidmajor was talking about.

As a long time booster, it amazes me the progress the program has made. Haters take shots at our recruiting ranking, PAC12 conference, etc...bottom line, the depth and talent on the team is light years ahead of where it used to be. We used to have solid 1's in our Fiesta Bowl and Sugar Bowl years. Now we have depth where the 2's are very solid and even the 3's in most positions. There is still a long ways to go, but the simple fact that we are in the regular discussion the past few years and going into next year to a potential PAC12 south favorite and a PAC12 conference legitimate contender is unreal.

For the uneducated taking shots, this is our strongest recruiting year in the history of the program in terms of average player rating. We are ranked low as an overall class because we have so few players leaving this year. Rankings weigh quantity as much as quality. Add this to the fact that keeping Moss, Anai, Fotu, and Blackman to delay the NFL jump, is like Utah getting 4 new 4star or 5star recruits. Not to mention, it will be interesting who the Utes add in the last signing period.

As a long time booster and fan, I could not be more satisfied.

@ekute - Layton, UT
Jan. 10, 2019 10:09 a.m.

"It will be nice to get byu out of the way right off the bat so we can move forward with what really counts. They're a thorn and our domination of them is meaningless. Recent results are the poster child for why they should not be a regular on our schedule and if they must, then always make them our first scrimmage with an out of conference opponent."

Dude, let it go. This article has nothing to do with BYU.

As the winning the PAC South, they should be favored and I think they might win it again. But if they don't win it, it won't be a team from California snatching it. I am really impressed with ASU.

Flipphone,
Certainly not talking about the cache valley team that even in their best season lost to their in-conference rivals and failed to win the league chumpionship. Nor are we talking about a happy valley team that most recently lost to all three of its local rivals.

And to think that all this talk comes from a team that currently sits as the 2018-19 worst recruiting class in the entire pac12 ...I am certain the other teams in the pac12 south would get a bunch of laughs out of this atricle if they read it after watching this team get destroyed by an average Northwestern team not a month ago ... no way that this team is as good as last years team...Lets at least try and be realistic boys ... if not then is it too early to say next years team will be right there with Clemson and Bama ???

It will be nice to get byu out of the way right off the bat so we can move forward with what really counts. They're a thorn and our domination of them is meaningless. Recent results are the poster child for why they should not be a regular on our schedule and if they must, then always make them our first scrimmage with an out of conference opponent.

You'd have to think Utah is the favorite to win the South. Even though winning it in consecutive seasons is tough, if it's ever been done.

Utah will be preseason ranked.

Utah returns key offensive and defensive players. And great leadership. Think Zach Moss, Tyler Huntley, Covey, Shyne, Green, Enis, Nacua, Simkins, Thompson, Keuthie, Fatheringham, Anae, Fotu, Penisini, Tupai, Blackmon, etc. Too many to list. Great team coming back.

Andy Ludwig will likely be the new OC and will find himself in a GREAT situation. And do well with it.

Heck, Utah may be the favorite to win the conference, not just the South. And justifiably so.

Are you Talking about the same Utah Utes who managed to loose the holiday bowl after being up 20-3 at haft time?